Application of typograhic and other designs to showcards, and other articles



Se t. 25, 1962 F. w. MACKENZIE 3,055,787

APPLICATI OF TYPOGRAPHIC AND OTHER DESIGNS TO WCARDS, AND OTHER ARTICLESFiled Aug. 6, 1957 FIG. 1.

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3,055,787 APPLICATION or ri'rocnAnrc AND OTHER DESIGNS T SHOWCARDS, ANDOTHER ARTICLES Frederick W. Mackenzie, 129 Tulse Hill, London, EnglandFiled Aug. 6, 1957, Ser. No. 676,568 Claims priority, application GreatBritain Aug. 7, 1956 1 Claim. (Cl. 156235) This invention relates to theapplication of typographic or other designs, to showcards and otherarticles using letters, designs or the like transferred thereto by meansof printed slide off transfers or other transfers. Slide off transfersas commonly used consist of a paper backing sheet on which the lettersor other designs are attached by means of a carrier film to which thedesigns are immovably fixed, said carrier film being attached to thebacking sheet by an adhesive soluble in water so that by wetting thetransfers the carrier film with the designs thereon can be removed.Heretofore it has been the practice to wet the transfer before placingit on the article and to use sufiicient water to enable the film anddesign to be floated ofi the transfer directly on to the article. Thishas many disadvantages; including the difiiculty of maintaining thealignment of individual typographic characters, and the need of acarrier film which detracts from aesthetic appearance of the finalresult.

According to the present invention a method of making transfer printedarticles comprises placing a transfer sheet with the design thereon incontact with a non-occlusive temporary support, said transfer sheethaving a backing sheet and a printed design attached by an adhesive tothe backing sheet, removing the backing sheet and leaving the printeddesign on one side of the non-occlusive support in reversed position,applying the latter to the article to be printed and pressing the designon said article in its required position.

It is important that the temporary support should be of a non-occlusivenature, that is to say it does not completely occlude air or water fromentering between it and the design thereon as this would militateagainst easy removal of the design from the support to the article. Thusa smooth metal or class surface is undesirable. Preferably the supportis a fine screen of silk or like fine filaments preferably but notessentially non-metallic. However, the support may have a solidcontinuous surface, e.g. a metal or synthetic plastic sheet if renderednon-occlusive by embossing or other suitable treatment of the surface.The design can cling to the support so that it can be easily handled andpositioned on the article whereupon the design can be pressed on to thearticle and the design will readily part from the support and cling tothe article because of the relatively smaller surface area presented bythe non-occlusive nature of the surface of the temporary support.

The temporary support is preferably mounted in a rigid frame.

The invention will be further described by way of example with referenceto the accompanying diagrammatic drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a temporary support mounted in a rigid frame;

FIGURE 2 is a section on an enlarged scale on the line 2-2 on FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows a transfer;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of part of the transfer;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are views of opposite sides of the temporary support andframe; and

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing the designand the article.

The temporary support 10 is a fine screen which has its margins clampedbetween a rigid rectangular wooden main frame 11 and a thin woodenspacing frame 12. The main frame has a depth of one quarter to threequarters of an inch so that it is strong and easily handled withoutbeing too deep as this would lessen the facility of manipulation. Thespacing frame 12 has a depth of 0.05 to 0.15 inch and is fixed to themain frame with a waterproof adhesive.

The transfer as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 consists of a paper backingsheet 15, a thin film 16, a film of watersoluble adhesive 17, and theletters or other designs 18. These are all very thin and are only shownof considerable thickness in FIGURE 4 for convenience of drawing. It isquite well known in the art to provide a film 16 of the kind which canbe readily peeled 01? from the backing sheet and when dipped in waterpermits the water to dissolve the adhesive 17 between the film 16 andthe letter 18.

In use a piece of the film 16 is cut as at 20 with the required letter18 thereon. This piece is peeled ofi from the backing sheet andmoistened with water and applied to the underneath side of the support10. The film is floated off and removed leaving the letter 18 on thesupport 10 in reversed position as shown in FIGURE 5. Now the frame andsupport 10 are turned so that the letter 18 is below the support 10.

The letter 18 remains adhered to the support 10 by means of the water.The exposed side of the letter remote from the support 10 is, at thistime, coated with a solution of the adhesive 17 in water.

The use of a fine mesh screen permits the worker to see the letter 18which appears to him in correct position. The worker can now handle thisframe with dry hands, place it in position and even fix it in position,upon the article shown at 22 in FIGURE 7 so that the letter 18 isbetween the support 10 and the article 22. The worker now presses theletter through the support 10 so as to establish contact of the letter18 on the article 22. On removing pressure the support 10 springs upleaving the letter 18 exactly positioned on the article. The use of thespacing frame 12 of 0.05 to 0.15 inch depth enables the worker toposition the letter 18 exactly above the article 22, and to flex thesupport 10 without damage to the support.

The screen may be made of silk, cotton or other natural fibres,synthetic or metallic filaments, perforated or embossed materials,plastic or the like.

I claim:

A method of assembling a composite design on a receiving surfacecomprising providing a plurality of individual pieces of a transfersheet and a non-occlusive flexible screen, one surface of said screenserving as manipulating surface and as transfer surface, each sheetcarrying a disconnected printed portion of said composite designremovably adhesively joined to a backing film by means of a watersolubleadhesive, said screen being flexibly supported in a rigid frame with thetransfer surface and the lower surface of said pieces spaced from saidreceiving surface when said frame and screen are placed thereon, placingsaid pieces on the transfer surface of the screen with the printeddesign against the screen,

(a) moistening the backing of said pieces, stripping off the moistenedbacking from the print remaining on the screen, placing the screen abovethe receiving surface,

(b) inverting the screen,

(0) flexing and pressing the portion of the screen carrying said printagainst the receiving surface, thereby transferring the print thereon,

(d) adjusting the screen and another of said pieces over the receivingsurface so as to place said piece in a position required for assemblingthe composite deslgn,

(e) and repeating steps (b), (c), and (d), until the design is completedon the receiving surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS WalkerOct. 20, 1903 Kubin Feb. 13, 1934 Wynne July 21, 1942 Johnson Oct. 20,1942 Laws Feb. 12, 1946 Ball June 17, 1947 Rapp Mar. 29, 1949 Adair Jan.20, 1953

